Today people routinely separate whole blood by centrifugation into its various therapeutic components, such as red blood cells, platelets, and plasma.
Conventional blood processing methods use durable centrifuge equipment in association with single use, sterile processing systems, typically made of plastic. The operator loads the disposable systems upon the centrifuge before processing and removes them afterwards.
Conventional centrifuges often do not permit easy access to the areas where the disposable systems reside during use. As a result, loading and unloading operations can be time consuming and tedious.
Disposable systems are often preformed into desired shapes to simplify the loading and unloading process. However, this approach is often counterproductive, as it increases the cost of the disposables.